Sonrisas Dental Health

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for your generosity and kindness during this year's Coastside Gives! Please visit us at sonrisasdental.org to learn more or make a gift directly to Sonrisas.

For this year’s Costside Gives, Sonrisas Dental Health is raising $25,000 for 400 school and community-based dental screenings for children and adults on the coastside. Funds will support free dental screenings and oral health education for nearly 400 neighbors in need, with special focus on recent-migrant and high-needs children, those newly eligible for Medi-Cal, and the elderly.

In one of the richest counties in the nation, an estimated 100,000 of our neighbors face difficulty affording basic needs. Equitable, culturally competent health care is a critical social determinant of health, and for these neighbors, oral care is even harder to access than medical care. Yet, poor oral health has been clinically linked to increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, ailments that also disproportionately affect disadvantaged communities.

What does a lack of access to high-quality, affordable, and culturally competent oral care and health education mean? 30% of children ages 6-12 miss school due to oral health issues. For children facing financial, language, and other barriers, these preventable absences can set the stage for the cycle of poverty to continue. 1 in 4 sickness-related work absences are due to dental illness, representing a direct roadblock to economic mobility. Nearly 1 in 5 seniors are missing all their teeth.

Sonrisas Dental Health is a nonprofit, local, community-based, safety-net oral care provider with a vision of a dental home for all – particularly those who face barriers to care. Sonrisas provides both clinic-based care and school and community-based dental screenings for children, allowing early detection, intervention, and access for children from low-income families. On the coastside, 1,100 low-income children and adults receive dental care annually at Sonrisas, and over 400 receive free dental screenings.

Overall, this fiscal year, Sonrisas’ clinical and screening services are set to serve over 7,000 low-income neighbors. Sonrisas care staff speak seven languages in addition to English and share community, background, and experiential connection with children and adults Sonrisas screens and cares for. We are proud to be part of our vibrant community and honored to have the opportunity to serve.

Please join us raise $25,000 for oral health screenings and health education for 400 children and adults facing barriers to care by making a contribution today!

TESTIMONIALS

“It's very important that Sonrisas Dental continues to grow, so there are more organizations like this one, because of the way they treat us. They are always looking out for you. Thank you Sonrisas for your attention, for the kindness that you show us, for opening your doors to us. Thanks to them, my children's teeth are getting better.” - Linda*, mother of 6-year-old Sonrisas patient whose urgent dental needs were identified through Sonrisas’ school-based screening program.

 “Sonrisas has helped us with absolutely everything that we have needed for our teeth. We thank them very much that we are still here with them.” - Jose, Sonrisas patient and farmworker

 “I would describe Sonrisas as a very welcoming place, I always felt like I’m at home. The staff here is amazing, they treated me so nice. This internship has given me more confidence, the opportunity to interact with patients which is helping me go out of my comfort zone. I am extremely grateful that Sonrisas gave me the opportunity to be an intern because I don’t know a lot of other places that give you this opportunity so it’s amazing that they did for me.” - Edith, longtime Sonrisas patient and 2023 summer intern

 * Name may have been changed to protect patient privacy. Emphasis ours.